Jesus, in his establishment of a new theology, or a new philosophy concerning God, which he called "'The Kingdom of Heaven," — literally the "reign of the heavens," as Matthew says, or the ''reign of God," according to the other evangelists, — was but carrying out to their logical conclusions the highest and most Spiritual teachings of the Old Testament. (Miscellaneous Writings, 174—11, 18.)
This new Science, as we might call it, was so diametrically opposed to the prevailing religious views, that from the very first they began to clash. And he was so unsparing in his denunciation of their practices, and, as it seemed to his hearers, considered himself of so much greater authority than their old-time leaders, that they rejected him and his teachings. For instance, he would say, "Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time . . . but I say unto you," etc.
The Sermon on the Mount is an epitome of his doctrine. In it he sets forth with great clearness the Principle of his teachings. So far-reaching and exacting are the requirements that theologians have said, "The Sermon on the Mount was only an indication of the degree of perfection to which man should aspire; that man, weighed down by sin, could not reach such an ideal" (Tolstoi).
